A week after bookie-turned builder Ajay Gosalia alias Ganda (52), was shot in broad daylight outside Infiniti Mall in Malad (W) last Wednesday, Crime Branch officers yesterday said that a hit squad was promised Rs 5 lakh to shoot him dead. Following the arrest of Harish Chandra Yadav alias Tiwari (43), one of the assailants, from Indore on Monday, police said that Tiwari confessed that his gang had been hired for the mentioned amount. “Tiwari told us that he was a contract killer and worked only for money.

Borivli-based builder Ajay Gosalia was attacked as he stepped out of Infiniti Mall in Malad (W) on August 28

He also said that a man whom he did not know approached him for the job, adding that he also gave him travel expenses and left. The promised him Rs 5 lakh were to be paid only after confirmation of Ganda’s death,” said an officer from the Crime Branch, on condition of anonymity. Cops are now on the look out for Tiwari’s gang members who accompanied him to the city. Police believe they are holed up in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Earlier on Saturday, Crime Branch officers from Unit XI had arrested the alleged planners of the crime. They were identified as Kaushik Gaur, a close aide of an encounter specialist, and Abhay Shinde, who is alleged to have pointed out Gosalia to the assailants. From the duo’s interrogations, the police have learned that fugitive underworld don Chhota Rajan had given them the contract to kill Ganda. The duo, however, told cops that they did not know the motive behind the contract.

Meanwhile, speculating the reason behind the attempted killing, the police said that Rajan believes Gosalia, who is close to another encounter specialist, had tipped off the police about the high profile JNPT arms haul case and was instrumental in framing the don’s wife Sujata Nikhalje in the 2006 extortion case. “Investigations are ongoing and we cannot believe the planners or shooter unless we arrest everyone involved in the crime,” said a Crime Branch officer. Gosalia, meanwhile, is recuperating at a hospital.

Lucky escape Borivli-based builder Ajay Gosalia was attacked as he stepped out of Infiniti Mall in Malad (W) on August 28. Five shots were fired, hitting him in the hand, shoulder and stomach from a distance of 20 feet. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared out of danger.